The Disciplers

Lesson 7: Different Kinds Of Sermons The Content of Preaching

 Vince Olaer

11 years ago

There are several kinds of sermons. Each of them has their own characteristics and purposes. I
would say that all these can be used in different kinds of occasions but depending on a particular
situation and to what God is telling to the preacher.

I cannot say which is the ultimate best form of sermon since I already have used all of these
alternately. As for my own preference however, I usually work on Expository sermon and Series
of sermons. Doing this allows me to have more topics to discuss and things to learn.

In this part, let us again remember the definitions of Preaching and Sermon. Preaching is a verb
which means the act of proclaiming the gospel. While Sermon is a noun that refers to the content
of preaching.

Expository Sermon
As the name implies, it is delivering a sermon by Bible exposition. N.M. Van Cleave in his book
Handbook of Preaching defined Expository sermon:

“Expository sermon not only takes a subject and main divisions from the text, but all the
subdivisions as well. It is usually based on a longer passage than the topical or textual sermon.
Often the text is a whole paragraph, whole chapter, or even a whole book. No idea can be
introduced into the expository sermon which does not come from the passage of Scripture upon
which it is based. It is an exposition of the given passage and that only.”
There are several advantages of expository sermon.

 It is easier for a preacher to create a sermon series in one single context.

 Apostles seems to be using the same mode of preaching.
 It promotes solid Biblical foundation in one single context.
 It protects the preacher to be accused of preaching to individuals and using the pulpit for
personal attacks or retaliation especially when conflict inside the church arises.
 It promotes solid exegesis because the message is just within the given passage.

Topical Sermon
Topical Sermon focuses mainly on a particular topic, or a topic within the text. Points does not
necessarily come from one single text and are usually invented by the preacher guided by the
rhetorical possibilities of the subject in accordance with the Bible and the preacher’s knowledge
concerning the topic.
N.M. Van Cleave gave 2 advantages for this kind of sermon.

 It allows the preacher to have a liberty in composition and full treatment of any subject.
 It helps the preacher to be more creative and opens a wider door for rhetorical eloquence.

But there are some dangers in using this type of sermon more often.

 The content of the sermon is basically at the mercy of the preacher instead of what the
Scripture is saying.
 More often it is too general in scope while the portion being presented is only a small part of the
main idea.
 There are lots of possibilities that the preacher can abuse the exegetical rules in order to fit it in
his sermon, especially that text passages from different points have different settings and
context.
 There is a tendency for the topical sermon to be too secular in form.
 There is a tendency that the preacher will be presenting his own personal views and prejudices
rather than what was the Bible really says.
 Topical is only good for preachers who does not preach frequently, but is not too helpful for
regular preachers since it is more difficult to think for more topics rather than allow the word
of God speaks to us.

Textual Sermon
N.M. Van Cleave defined Textual Sermon:

“The textual sermon tales from, the text and subject and the main divisions. The main points of
the sermon are only those stated or clearly inferred by the passage of Scripture upon which the
sermon is based. However, the subdivisions are invented in the same way that all the divisions
are invented in the topical sermon.”
This means that the main difference between the topical sermon and the textual sermon is that
topics did not just came out of the idea of the preacher but to what the passage is saying. And
that the points though added or invented, are clearly a part of one passage.

In addtion, among the three kinds of sermons; expository, topical and textual, I would say that
textual is half expository and half topical.

Textual Sermon also posseses some advantages

 It is more scriptural in design in comparison to Topical Sermon.

 The points are predictable since the sermon points can be found in the text.
 It also permits a variety of construction and selection of the preacher.
 Your hearers will not be left hanging since all the divisions and points can be found in the text.
Meaning, it can be as good as a finished discourse.
 Most likely to be remembered more than the topical sermon especially if the hearers carefully
followed the sermon. This is because, there will be a “memory connection” between the
passage and the sermon at the back of the mind of the hearers.
Sermon Series
Sermon series is more like a combination of expository and textual form of sermon. They are
taken from the passages itself and then make an exposition. The difference lies in the sequence
and number of sermons because series of sermons is not enough for just one sermon setting.
They are most of the time unfinished discourse since it is composed of several sermons to finish.

What I usually do is  that I walk through the Bible. I choose a book from the Bible and then
make a sermon little by little through the passages. It usually takes me a couple of months to
finish the whole book depending on the length of the book.

The main advantage of this is that if you are a regular preacher, it will be easier for you to make
and think for your next sermon because you are only following one context. You will also save
time in reviewing the background of the book since you will only make a background review at
the beginning of the study of the book.

Another advantage that you can derive more knowledge of the background of the book since you
are studying only one book for a certain period of time.

Bible Story Sermon

Some counted this to be in the form of “Narrative Sermon”. For the purpose of pointing out the
difference between the fiction / experiential stories with Bible stories, I will refer to experiential
and fictional stories if I talk about narrative sermons. On the other hamd, I will refer Bible stories
in Bible story sermon.

Derived from its origin, “Simply The Story”, Bible Story sermon is more about telling Bible
stories and then out of those Bible stories, the preacher creates his sermon. In the original STS, it
does not allow you to preach the story.

However, I already tried several times preaching Bible stories.

Here is a simple step by step procedure in preaching Bible Stories:

1. First, pray.
2. Secondly, read the story several times until you understand the story. If possible, familiarize
the the deatails of the story. Do not add nor subtract. However, feel free to use your own
words.
3. Practice yourself in telling the story. Be a little creative in doing so. Your goal is that your
audience will completely understand what you are saying.
4. Look for spiritual truths that lies in the story. The secret of doing this is by asking the right
questions. I will not be discussing here how to ask the right questions, but you can see a
simple guide in Lesson 3: Basic Inductive Bible Study.
5. After seeing the spiritual truths in it, try to summarize it forming a sermon outline.

Tips In Delivering Bible Stories

 Deliver the story lively. If you cannot tell the story without reading, try to at least change the
tones while delivering the story so that at least you can capture your hearers.
  If you can make it more creative by presenting it in drama form or at least non-traditional way of
telling Bible stories.
 Maintain eye contact and your voice loud enough to be heard.
 In discussing Bible stories, avoid asking “Why” questions and questions that will lead to “Yes” or
“No” questions.

Some of the advantages of Bible Story Sermon are the following:

 Purely Bible based. I believe this the strongest advantage that it has.
 It is more creative than that of traditional way of preaching.
 It is an eye opener that Bible stories are not only for kids but for all levels.
 It enhances our knowledge about the truths in Bible Stories.
 If you are a regular preacher, it is so easy to plan ahead of time what Bible stories are you going
to discuss since the Bible is composed of about 70-80% story form content.
 Perfect for newly planted Churches especially those that have fewer members.

The only disadvantage with this one is that the preacher who does not have a talent in story
telling will find it more difficult to use.

Narrative Sermon
This is similar to Bible Story Sermon because it also deals with stories. The big difference
however, lies with the story itself. In Narrative Preaching, the preacher uses experience and
fictional stories and then quoting passages from the Bible to make a point, while Bible Story
Preaching uses Bible Stories in delivering God’s word.

Here’s a simple process to get a picture of this kind of sermon:

1. The preacher tells a fiction or an experiential story. Most of it are quite long, enough to
consume 15 minutes of telling it.
2. After telling the story, he will quote a passage which is very much related with the story and
then present his concise points.
3. Making an excellent conclusion is very crucial since this will tell the people if the story is really
worth noting.

The main issue that can be raised against narrative preaching and is worth evaluating is the issue
of it source of message. It is because narrative preaching is not purely Bible based.

Note: If you know another kinds of sermon, feel free to post in the form provided below.

 
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Related posts:

1. The Preacher and The Act of Preaching

2. How To Preach Narrative Sermons
3. Lesson 1: Introduction To Preaching
4. Lesson 6: Preaching With Passion
5. Lesson 4: Hunting For Good Sermon Illustrations
6. Lesson 5: Delivering What You Prepared
7. 6 Tips In How To Make and Deliver A Better Sermon
Categories: Featured, For Pastors Only, Preaching
Tags: pastor, Pastoral, Preaching, Sermon

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